Commercial wind turbines contain a large planet carrier with smaller internal diameter pin bores arranged around a larger internal diameter main bore. Over time, both the pin bores and the main bore wear out. The surfaces of the bores become pitted and corroded, requiring replacement of the planet carrier.
Replacement of the planet carrier is costly. Remanufacturing of the surfaces of the internal diameter bores can be less costly than replacing the entire planet carrier.
Attempts to remanufacture the planet carrier include remanufacturing the surfaces of the bores with plasma transfer arc welding. The plasma transfer arc welding process first preheats the planet carrier and deposits a new layer of metal over the surfaces of the internal diameter bores.
The plasma transfer arc welding process, however, produces remanufactured surfaces that are prone to cracking under strain because the new metal layer is deposited at high temperature, which creates stress and reduces strength in the heat effected zone. The plasma transfer arc welding process also requires preheating of the large planet carrier, which uses a large amount of energy, time and labor to perform.
The remanufactured planet carrier of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.